Artist Bio:
Although the trio Dissidenten specializes in the exotic sounds of Africa, Dissidenten's first public appearance took place in Poona, India, in February 1979 together with Michael Wehmeyer/KB, from Bielefeld, Germany, William De Souza, DR, from Goa, India, R.A. Ramamani, VOC., from Bangalore, India and Germany. Friedemann Josch joined more than a year later and Marlon Klein more than two years later.
The group lived in the palace of Maharaja Bhalkrishna Bharti of Gondagaon in Madja Pradesh in central India. This proved to be the location where Dissidenten's debut full-length recording was written; the album, Germanistan, saw the group joined by such outsiders as the Karnataka College of Percussion, female singer Ramamani, and American saxophonist Charlie Mariano.
A year later, it was time for the trio to move once more, this time to North Africa (more specifically, to Tangier, Morocco), where renowned author and composer Paul Bowles introduced the trio to some of the area's best instrumentalists — resulting in Dissidenten's sophomore effort, Sahara Elektrik, produced by Abdessalam Akaaboune.
In 1996, the members of Dissidenten formed their own music company, Exil Musik, and issued Instinctive Traveler, an album that marked the first time that the vocals were sung in English. The group performed at such festival shows as Stuttgart Jazz Open, Leverkusener Jazztage, and Festival De La Diversidad, Barcelona.
1998 saw the group play further shows with guest musicians/singers Izaline Calister, Noujoum Ouazza, and Manickam Yogeswaran, including a spot at the Glastonbury Festival in England, which resulted in the release of the second live album of Dissidenten's career, Live in Europe. —Courtesy Calabash Music
